We are having so much fun with our giant magnetic foam place value blocks this year! I have to give a shout out to my teaching partner's son for having started making these on his mom's board after school, and giving us the inspiration for this great place value idea! This simple activity has my students so excited each morning.

Make a mark! Isn't that a simple, but fabulous message? In Peter H. Reynolds' book, The Dot, he tells a fabulous story of an encouraging teacher who helps a young student to find the confidence to express her creativity and to make a mark on the world.

I fell in love with this book, and used it as jumping off point for our How We Express Ourselves unit. It could not have been more perfect. Did you know there is even a super catchy song to go with it?

This year I found the perfect idea for my parent volunteer thank you gifts and I am so pleased with how they turned out! I am always looking for ideas that aren't too expensive, or impractical, and that really show our appreciation.

I am pretty excited to share my new post over on Classroom Tested Resources this month. With a few days to go we are just finishing our Where We Are In Place And Time unit. This guided inquiry with artifacts was how we kicked off our exploration into the different ways people tell their personal histories. Hop on over and check it out and be sure to download this freebie if you decide it's a lesson you'd like to try!

Teacher appreciation giveaway going on right now! Have your heard? Teachers Pay Teachers is having a teacher appreciation sale starting tomorrow? Guess what? To appreciate you even more I am giving away two $10 TPT gift cards! Enter my giveaway today. A winner will be randomly chosen and notified tomorrow morning. Be sure to remember to use the coupon code: celebrate when making your purchases!

It's time for Show & Tell Tuesday with Stephanie from Forever in 5th Grade again! Check out my favorite bulletin board along with a few other of my current favorites.

This is one of my favorite boards in my classroom. I need to take a better picture for a more detailed post in the future, but I'll give you the basics now. Each petal of the flower lists student names. Each square icon indicates which center station the students need to go to. I rotate the flower with every rotation. Icons are attached with Velcro and there is simply a push pin in the middle of the flower!

On the blog today we've got shaving cream, laminating, doodling and pancakes! Sounds like fun doesn't it? I am linking up with Stephanie from Forever in 5th Grade for a little Show & Tell Tuesday.

I've been using shaving cream to clean desks forever! It never fails to be a fun filled afternoon that leaves the classroom not only looking, but also smelling clean. My students had tons of fun expressing their creativity for awhile before we had to wipe it all away. Tip: Get your shaving cream at the dollar store.